Abstract
Dear Editor:
When two pairs of my smaller Australian
parrakeets produced young, I thought that
it might be wise to close-ring them since,
what with the turmoil over captive birds,
I could foresee being called upon to prove
my birds were captive-bred, not smuggled.
Accordingly, I ordered rings from an advertiser
in the Watchbird who shipped them
most promptly. They were exactly what I
had in mind, numbered OI through 25,
contained my initials and the year.
At I2 days of age I slipped rings no. 01
through 04 onto the right legs of the brood
in one aviary and thought smugly that I had
short-circuited any potential problems, at
least with this lot.
Wrong! On 4/25 at 0930 the first chick,
a female wearing ring 03, exited the nest.
At 1400 on the same day, a male (01)
emerged. Two days later, on 4/27, the third
(04) abandoned ship, followed an hour
later by the fourth and last one (02).
On 4/30, a Saturday, I noticed that no.
04 seemed to have difficulty standing on
perches so I caught him up to examine him.
He was unable to use his right leg, it hung
uselessly, and I resolved to take him to the
vet on Monday, which I did.
When I caught him up to transport him
I saw that his ring was gone and I remarked
upon this to my wife, wondering how this
was possible.